In this day and era, everybody sets milestones,
Milestone #1 - Have a girlfriend.
Milestone #2 - Get an MBA degree - Irrespective of whether I want to run a business or not.
Milestone #3 - Get a well-paid job – Investment banker, Strategy consultant, sends me around the globe, makes my friends go oooohhhhhhh.
Milestone #4 - Get married – All my friends are getting married. I don’t have anybody to hang out with anymore. Let’s get married and settle down.
Milestone #5 - Build my own house - Everybody is buying a house honey, maybe we should also get one, how long do we keep partying, we should may be settle down – by buying a house in a remote place.
Milestone #6 – Have kid No. 1 – So we have an MBA, a nice luxury car, a beautiful flat so now what next. Hey everybody is having kids, maybe we should too. That way we can settle down finally.
Milestone #7 – Get a better job – We now have bigger mortgage to pay, maybe we need more money, should switch jobs that gets a bigger package.
Milestone #8 – Have kid No. 2 – So everything seems Ok. Let us have another kid. (Because life is getting boring. We need more things to get involved in. More responsibilities, so that we have no time whatsoever to think about ourselves.) And finally we will be able to settle down
Milestone #9 – Get retired. Oh I have worked all my life now that I am retiring I can finally have some fun and settle down peacefully. It has been a long journey, I worked my ass off all my life for my kids who don’t even appreciate it
Milestone #10 – Wait for death and get forgotten.
Is this what we want from life?
Do we stop and think about all those dreams we saw as a teenager?
Do we appreciate our achievements and take a break for ourselves. (Not the touristy break to an exotic country) but just hang out together hand in hand and have a worry free smile.
Do we stop worrying about money, our investments and mortgages ever?
Do we take some time out to just sip a beer alone and let the night pass by feeling just happy about where you are at present in your life?
It’s not practical to have no milestones or desires. I read somewhere that desire is the cause of creation and destruction, and therefore it is very important for human race to desire.
I just want us to be a bit more happy, a bit more relaxed and live a bit more in the present and not wait to live life till the day of retirement.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Should I and Would I??
6 months have gone by so quickly. I came to this city in September and it’s already March. Time is really flying and what am I still doing. The same old job, just better and faster. I ask myself if this is what I really want to do with myself and I always get back a positive No. This is not what I really want to do. When I started working as an Instructional Designer, when I was 20, I thought this was just a temporary job. Then I switched to a bigger company, but still doing the same job (with a fancier consulting job title) and now I am going to complete 7 years as an Instructional Designer and I ask myself if I am really good at it and if I am happy doing this for my entire life?
Well, obviously I don’t want to do this all my life, although I have a doubt that I might. It’s just this comfort zone which is so tough to break. I know how things work and I know what to do and I know people here and people know me. I am just set and I am earning enough. So ‘why not’ is the answer I find giving myself. Plus everybody who works in Technology or Consulting, get bored of their jobs after a while. It’s just monotonous. So even if your job is interesting, it may be the monotony that makes it boring. So is taking a break or a sabbatical a solution?
Hmmm, I have been thinking about it, and I feel that I am starting to dislike the corporate life. I know that even if I dislike the setup, I will still continue with my work and complete my assignments on time, be a part of the extra initiatives, take initiatives and be competitive and basically be a part of the rat race, but I know somewhere in a small corner of my heart, I want to do real things. Things that matter to me, things that will make a difference, however small the difference be.
But the important question I need to answer is do I have the courage to break the comfort zone and explore new options, without worrying about the future or result or the finances?
Well, obviously I don’t want to do this all my life, although I have a doubt that I might. It’s just this comfort zone which is so tough to break. I know how things work and I know what to do and I know people here and people know me. I am just set and I am earning enough. So ‘why not’ is the answer I find giving myself. Plus everybody who works in Technology or Consulting, get bored of their jobs after a while. It’s just monotonous. So even if your job is interesting, it may be the monotony that makes it boring. So is taking a break or a sabbatical a solution?
Hmmm, I have been thinking about it, and I feel that I am starting to dislike the corporate life. I know that even if I dislike the setup, I will still continue with my work and complete my assignments on time, be a part of the extra initiatives, take initiatives and be competitive and basically be a part of the rat race, but I know somewhere in a small corner of my heart, I want to do real things. Things that matter to me, things that will make a difference, however small the difference be.
But the important question I need to answer is do I have the courage to break the comfort zone and explore new options, without worrying about the future or result or the finances?
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Long Time, No See
Love, Marriage and having kids, these three things are extremely overrated. Just like how Times New Roman is overrated by MS Word (I personally hate it).
And no, I am not saying this because I am ugly and nobody has been in love with me or that I haven’t been married yet (and no I am not a single lady in late 30s). I have had my share of relationships in the past. And now when I look back I do realize that there was a time when I thought I was so much in love with someone that I might have even moved to Alaska if he was with me.
I wonder if this has happened to you. That one morning you are just sitting with your louwer sipping coffee or having a sandwich you look at him and ask yourself, do I really love him?? What was I even thinking?? Like really!! And as you question yourself, the bulb lights up and you realize that something is not right, you realize that you were in love with a fictional character and not this douche bag.
So all that I really want to know is why is love so overrated? I agree it brings business to florists, heart shaped balloon sellers, cake bakers, gold and diamond ring sellers etc etc.. Just add in whatever crazy shit you might have bought your louwer. Oh mainly the Telecom industry, they all definitely benefit from love. But what do we get from this excessive obsession we water and nurture like a plant? Making all those false promises and it all goes into the trash can the minute the bulb lights up.
I just want to know the basis of love? Do we fall for someone we are physically attracted to, or someone we are very comfortable sharing our feelings with or someone who has been extremely caring and affectionate or someone we just feel like having a shot with or should it be a combination of all? Ya ya, I know that there is no definition for love and love just happens anywhere anytime and that we all have someone waiting somewhere shit.
But really isn’t it strange that we all have said “I louwe You” to some(one). I think we say it because we have seen it in Television how this handsome guy tells the three magical words to this pretty girl and everything becomes so beautiful and pleasant, and somewhere in our head we want to be that handsome guy or that pretty girl who would like to feel that important. Somewhere in our head we think that, like the prince turned the frog into a princess (or vice versa), may be this guy/girl would turn me into something amazing.
P.S: I know that my boyfriend will read this post. Dude, chill this is not about you :) And we are good.
And no, I am not saying this because I am ugly and nobody has been in love with me or that I haven’t been married yet (and no I am not a single lady in late 30s). I have had my share of relationships in the past. And now when I look back I do realize that there was a time when I thought I was so much in love with someone that I might have even moved to Alaska if he was with me.
I wonder if this has happened to you. That one morning you are just sitting with your louwer sipping coffee or having a sandwich you look at him and ask yourself, do I really love him?? What was I even thinking?? Like really!! And as you question yourself, the bulb lights up and you realize that something is not right, you realize that you were in love with a fictional character and not this douche bag.
So all that I really want to know is why is love so overrated? I agree it brings business to florists, heart shaped balloon sellers, cake bakers, gold and diamond ring sellers etc etc.. Just add in whatever crazy shit you might have bought your louwer. Oh mainly the Telecom industry, they all definitely benefit from love. But what do we get from this excessive obsession we water and nurture like a plant? Making all those false promises and it all goes into the trash can the minute the bulb lights up.
I just want to know the basis of love? Do we fall for someone we are physically attracted to, or someone we are very comfortable sharing our feelings with or someone who has been extremely caring and affectionate or someone we just feel like having a shot with or should it be a combination of all? Ya ya, I know that there is no definition for love and love just happens anywhere anytime and that we all have someone waiting somewhere shit.
But really isn’t it strange that we all have said “I louwe You” to some(one). I think we say it because we have seen it in Television how this handsome guy tells the three magical words to this pretty girl and everything becomes so beautiful and pleasant, and somewhere in our head we want to be that handsome guy or that pretty girl who would like to feel that important. Somewhere in our head we think that, like the prince turned the frog into a princess (or vice versa), may be this guy/girl would turn me into something amazing.
P.S: I know that my boyfriend will read this post. Dude, chill this is not about you :) And we are good.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
This be the Verse - Philip Larkin
Recently came across this poem by Philip Larkin. Very impressive.
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
Monday, February 14, 2011
As i Pack to Get Back!
As I started packing to get back to India after living in Boston for 15 months I found the most important things are not the perfumes, boots, cosmetics or hair sprays. The most important thing that I want to take back with me is still my mother’s sweater. The most important thing is not my iPod, but all the photos I clicked with my friends here.
It just made me think that the more you make money, the more comfortable your body is but what about the soul? Money definitely helps live a comfortable life, but the simple pleasures of life cannot be bought or sold, one just has to be blessed with them.
I definitely have mixed feelings, because I did find my second family here after all. I am sad to leave uncle, aunty and to an extent even Kunal (the brat boy) and Pond street and Natick mall and Chipotle, etc etc., But the minute I think of Oviya I know I am glad to get back to India. Man I want to hold her and see her grow and hear her call me maasi the first time. Oh you small thing I already love you a lot :-)
It just made me think that the more you make money, the more comfortable your body is but what about the soul? Money definitely helps live a comfortable life, but the simple pleasures of life cannot be bought or sold, one just has to be blessed with them.
I definitely have mixed feelings, because I did find my second family here after all. I am sad to leave uncle, aunty and to an extent even Kunal (the brat boy) and Pond street and Natick mall and Chipotle, etc etc., But the minute I think of Oviya I know I am glad to get back to India. Man I want to hold her and see her grow and hear her call me maasi the first time. Oh you small thing I already love you a lot :-)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Eat, Pray and Love
Some of my favorite quotes/lines from the book.
To me, the Augusteum is like a person who’s led a totally crazy life – who maybe started out as a housewife, then unexpectedly became a widow, then took up fan-dancing to make money, ended up somehow as the first female dentist in outer space, and then tried her hand at national politics – yet who has managed to hold an intact sense of herself throughout every upheaval.
I look at the Augusteum, and I think that perhaps my life has not actually been so chaotic, after all. It is merely this world that is chaotic, bringing changes to us all that nobody could have anticipated. The Auguteum warns me not to get attached to any obsolete ideas about who I am, what I represent, whom I belong to, or what function I may once have intended to serve. Yesterday I might have been a glorious monument to somebody, true enough – but tomorrow I could be a fireworks depository. Even in the Eternal City, says the silent Augusteum, one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation.
Naples – They talk loud and emphatically, and if you can’t understand what they’re actually saying out of their mouths, you can usually pick up the inference from the gesture. Like that punk little grammar-school girl on the back of her older cousin’s motorbike, who flipped me the finger and a charming smile as she drove by, just to make me understand, “Hey, no hard feelings, lady. But I’m only seven, and I can already tell you’re a complete moron, but that’s cool – I think you’re halfway OK despite yourself and I kinda like your dumb-ass face. We both know you could love to be me, but sorry – you can’t, Anyhow, here’s my middle finger, enjoy your stay in Naples, and ciao!”
Virginia Woolf wrote, “Across the broad continent of a woman’s life falls the shadow of a sword.” On one side of that sword, she said there lies convention and tradition and order, where “all is correct”. But on the other side of that sword, if you’re crazy enough to cross it and choose a life that does not follow convention, “all is confusion. Nothing follows a regular course.” Her argument was that crossing of the shadow of that sword may bring a far more interesting existence to a woman, but you can bet it will also be more perilous.
Richard found himself praying all the time. His prayer was always the same. He kept begging God, “Please, please, please open my heart.” That was all he wanted – an open heart. And he would always finish the prayer for an open heart by asking God, “And please send me a sign when the event has occurred.” Now he says, recollecting that time, “Be careful what you pray for, cuz you just might get it.” After a few months of praying constantly for an open heart, what do you think Richard got? That’s right – emergency open-heart surgery. His chest was literally cracked open, his ribs cleaved away from each other to allow some daylight to finally reach his heart, as though God were saying, “How’s that for a sign?” So now Richard is always cautious with his prayers, he tells me. “Whenever I pray for anything these days, I always wrap it up by saying, “Oh, and God? Please be gentle with me, OK?”
“I am not laughing.” I was actually crying. “And please don’t laugh at me now, but I think the reason it’s so hard for me to get over this guy is because I seriously believed David was my soul mate.”
“He probably was. Your problem is you don’t understand what that word means. People think soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is, you just can’t let this one go. David’s purpose was to shake your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. That was his job, and he did great, but now it’s over. Problem is, you can’t accept that this relationship had a real short shelf life. You’re like a dog at the dump, baby – you’re just licking at an empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. And if you’re not careful, that can’s gonna get stuck to your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it.”
To me, the Augusteum is like a person who’s led a totally crazy life – who maybe started out as a housewife, then unexpectedly became a widow, then took up fan-dancing to make money, ended up somehow as the first female dentist in outer space, and then tried her hand at national politics – yet who has managed to hold an intact sense of herself throughout every upheaval.
I look at the Augusteum, and I think that perhaps my life has not actually been so chaotic, after all. It is merely this world that is chaotic, bringing changes to us all that nobody could have anticipated. The Auguteum warns me not to get attached to any obsolete ideas about who I am, what I represent, whom I belong to, or what function I may once have intended to serve. Yesterday I might have been a glorious monument to somebody, true enough – but tomorrow I could be a fireworks depository. Even in the Eternal City, says the silent Augusteum, one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation.
Naples – They talk loud and emphatically, and if you can’t understand what they’re actually saying out of their mouths, you can usually pick up the inference from the gesture. Like that punk little grammar-school girl on the back of her older cousin’s motorbike, who flipped me the finger and a charming smile as she drove by, just to make me understand, “Hey, no hard feelings, lady. But I’m only seven, and I can already tell you’re a complete moron, but that’s cool – I think you’re halfway OK despite yourself and I kinda like your dumb-ass face. We both know you could love to be me, but sorry – you can’t, Anyhow, here’s my middle finger, enjoy your stay in Naples, and ciao!”
Virginia Woolf wrote, “Across the broad continent of a woman’s life falls the shadow of a sword.” On one side of that sword, she said there lies convention and tradition and order, where “all is correct”. But on the other side of that sword, if you’re crazy enough to cross it and choose a life that does not follow convention, “all is confusion. Nothing follows a regular course.” Her argument was that crossing of the shadow of that sword may bring a far more interesting existence to a woman, but you can bet it will also be more perilous.
Richard found himself praying all the time. His prayer was always the same. He kept begging God, “Please, please, please open my heart.” That was all he wanted – an open heart. And he would always finish the prayer for an open heart by asking God, “And please send me a sign when the event has occurred.” Now he says, recollecting that time, “Be careful what you pray for, cuz you just might get it.” After a few months of praying constantly for an open heart, what do you think Richard got? That’s right – emergency open-heart surgery. His chest was literally cracked open, his ribs cleaved away from each other to allow some daylight to finally reach his heart, as though God were saying, “How’s that for a sign?” So now Richard is always cautious with his prayers, he tells me. “Whenever I pray for anything these days, I always wrap it up by saying, “Oh, and God? Please be gentle with me, OK?”
“I am not laughing.” I was actually crying. “And please don’t laugh at me now, but I think the reason it’s so hard for me to get over this guy is because I seriously believed David was my soul mate.”
“He probably was. Your problem is you don’t understand what that word means. People think soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is, you just can’t let this one go. David’s purpose was to shake your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. That was his job, and he did great, but now it’s over. Problem is, you can’t accept that this relationship had a real short shelf life. You’re like a dog at the dump, baby – you’re just licking at an empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. And if you’re not careful, that can’s gonna get stuck to your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it.”
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Hi Blog..
Just realized that I haven’t written anything for a long long time now. Oh damn, am I losing my left over senses too?
Well, actually too many thoughts that I am completely lost. And also caught up at work, so don’t get much time to improvise on any one thought.
Apart from work, trying to see a few cities in the States that keep me occupied over the weekends. In fact, honestly speaking, most of the weekends I am busy window shopping and not travelling. Can’t help, the shoes, clothes, jackets, furniture, perfumes, cosmetics, kitchen appliances, lamp shades, baby stuff, toys…. everything is Awesome. I easily end up spending the whole of Saturday in a mall.
Sunday nights I watch American Football. A very interesting game. Although as of now I am more interested in checking out the hot guys. That doesn’t mean I don’t understand the game. I DO.
So generally wanted to scribble and bring back some life to my blog.
Well, actually too many thoughts that I am completely lost. And also caught up at work, so don’t get much time to improvise on any one thought.
Apart from work, trying to see a few cities in the States that keep me occupied over the weekends. In fact, honestly speaking, most of the weekends I am busy window shopping and not travelling. Can’t help, the shoes, clothes, jackets, furniture, perfumes, cosmetics, kitchen appliances, lamp shades, baby stuff, toys…. everything is Awesome. I easily end up spending the whole of Saturday in a mall.
Sunday nights I watch American Football. A very interesting game. Although as of now I am more interested in checking out the hot guys. That doesn’t mean I don’t understand the game. I DO.
So generally wanted to scribble and bring back some life to my blog.
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